After three years of implementation of KALAHI-CIDSS: KKB Project, the residents of 30 barangays in Katipunan town finally have broken the chain of social apathy and poverty that made them indifferent to community affairs for years.

KALAHI-CIDSS:KKB which stands for “Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services: Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay” is a project implemented by the Department of  Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in close coordination with the local government units aimed at empowering the people, enhancing local governance and addressing the problem of poverty.

Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Ruel G. Lucentales in a handover ceremony of the project to the municipal government of Katipunan said he expected the municipal leadership to continue and sustain the gains achieved by the project in the lives of the community people who are now visibly active in community affairs.

Employing a community-driven approach in which the residents are encouraged to actively participate in the needs identification and in coming up with their own recommendations, the once timid community people of Katipunan are now active participants in governance. For its part, DSWD allocated P 9-million to the municipality each year with the 30 barangays getting P300,000 each. The money received by the barangays were used for their respective projects as proposed by the residents themselves.

“The beauty of this project is that we don’t cascade the money from the national office to the regional office down to the municipal government. We gave the money direct to the barangays,” Lucentales said, adding “the room for graft and corruption is very nil.” Katipunan is one of the 11 pilot municipalities all over the country for the KALAHI-CIDSS: KKB project being implemented three years ago.

DSWD 9 Regional Information Officer Fe L. de la Cruz also disclosed that as of now there are 10 towns throughout the region implementing the KKB project. (PIA)